Nick Saban is technically paid by ESPN to weigh in on NCAA football each Saturday on College GameDay, but there is another Alabama quarterback in the news this week.
After Tua Tagovailoa’s concussion dominated the NFL news cycle after Week 1, the benching of Bryce Young was the top story coming off Week 2. And in his weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Saban expressed his frustration at how little the Carolina Panthers were able to support and develop Young in his first season-plus as a pro.
“Quarterback is a really hard position to play if the people around you don’t play well,” Saban said. “That’s one of the bad things about being the first guy picked in a draft. You may go to a team that doesn’t have all the pieces … Carolina did not, and they have to build this thing from the ground up.”
Young was benched this week after 18 starts. He has 13 interceptions compared to just 11 touchdown passes in his career, and has been sacked an average of four times per game. In Week 2, Young mustered just 84 passing yards before first-year head coach Dave Canales benched him.
Carolina traded up in 2023 to select Young first overall. The 2021 Heisman winner was a consensus highly ranked QB in the draft. The Panthers, 2-15 the prior season, gave up their 2024 first-round pick to get him.
Outside of Ikem Ekonwu and Xavier Legette, Carolina does not have a lot of recent blue-chip talent around Young as it rebuilds.
“I hate to see Bryce Young get benched, but I also don’t see a lot of opportunity for him to be successful based on the skill players they have around him, the offensive line they have around him,” Saban said. “I think he’s the type of player that can really operate well when he has good players around him.”
Still, Saban saw during a championship season in 2020 and a Heisman season in 2021 how mentally strong Young can be. The longtime Alabama coach is optimistic Young can learn from the benching and get better.
“He’s always been a guy that sort of improved from his failings, so hopefully this’ll be an opportunity for him to do it again,” Saban said.
